The Backstory
So look, back in 2018, I was grinding hard at this tech job, right? Typical Virgo stuff – spreadsheets color-coded to death, lists for my lists, planning my week down to the damn minute. Thought I was killing it. Boss pulls me in one Tuesday, says the promotion went to Dave. DAVE! That guy whose desk looks like a tornado hit a recycling bin. Gut punch. Felt like my whole “perfect system” approach blew up in my face.
What Actually Happened?
Sat there stewing for days. Couldn’t figure it out. Then, grabbing coffee like a zombie, I overhear Dave chatting. Turns out, while I was tweaking bullet points on some presentation nobody cared about, Dave was actually just…talking to people. Managers. The VP. Just shooting the breeze, asking dumb questions about the big picture. Turns out his messy desk hid a guy who got how offices really work.
My Virgo brain short-circuited. Networking felt… dirty? Unstructured? Like cheating? But fine. Decided to swallow my pride and try some messy “Dave stuff” myself. Here’s how it went down:
- Stopped Perfecting Reports First: Seriously quit rewriting docs ten times before sharing. Sent ugly first drafts saying “Rough ideas, wanna chat?” Had conversations instead of perfecting commas.
- Talked Before Tasks: Instead of diving headfirst into fixing something alone? Walked over. Asked the manager “Hey, what’s the actual goal here?” before wasting two days.
- Forced “Hello”: Set a dumb phone alarm for 10:30 AM. Every damn day, when it went off? Got up. Walked to the kitchen. Said something – anything – to whoever was there. “Coffee’s brutal today” worked fine.
And? Did It Work?
Like magic, honestly. Felt weird and sloppy at first. My notes app screamed. But bosses started mentioning they “appreciated my clarity” on projects – clarity coming from early chats, not perfect final docs! Got looped into bigger meetings ’cause people knew my face and name, not just my email signature. Dave-level networking magic.
By the end of that year? Got the next promotion. Bigger one than the one Dave got. The irony wasn’t lost on me. My Virgo need for control? Held me back. Loosening the reins, getting slightly messy? That got me moving.
Point is, Virgos gotta fight their own nature sometimes. You build the perfect ship, but forget to sail it anywhere people can see. Talk more, perfect less. Weird how that works.
